Wrench.



H. C. EARLE.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-29', m3.

2 1,134,948. Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

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5 CO.. FHOTO-LITHL'L, WASHINGTON, D, C.

rinirun snares PATENT neuron HARRY C. EARLE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,.ASSlIGNOB. TO WALWORTH MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, or BOSTON, :SETTS.

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- V WRENCH.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Application filed January 29, 1913. Serial No. 745,485. I

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, HARRY C. EARLE, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in l/Vrenches, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to pipe wrenches and has for its object theproduction of a wrench which will combine simplicity in construction andeffectiveness in operation. The invention consists primarily in formingintegral with thebody portion of the wrench a pair of lateralprojections having slots therein serving as guides for the movable jaw,which jaw is adapted to rock over the curved bottom of one of saidslots, but is normally retained by a spring in a position inclined tosaid body portion until pressure is applied to the latter to cause thejaws to bite upon the pipe, said spring tending to release said jawsfrom said pipe as soon as said pressure ceases.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of constructionand arrangement of parts which will be fully understood by reference tothe description of the drawings and to the claim hereinafter given.

Of the drawings: Figure 1 represents an elevation of a wrench embodyingthe features of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view of thesame. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section, the cutting plane being on line 33on Fig. 1, and Fig. 4c is an enlarged section, the cutting plane beingon line H.011 Fi 1.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the several figuresof the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 is the body portion of the wrench having formedintegral therewith the fixed jaw 11 and the lateral projections 12 and13. Both of these projections are bifurcated by having formed thereinthe guide slots 141 and 15, the outer end of the slot 14 being closed bya filling member 16, while the slot 15 is left open.

. The shank 17 of the movable jaw 18 is positioned in the slots 14 and15 and is adapted to be adjusted lengthwise of the body portion 10 bymeans of the adjusting nut 19 interposed between the projections 12' and13, and the threads of which engage the threaded portion 20 of the shank17.

The filling member 16 is secured to the bifurcated projection 12 bymeans of rivets 21 and to this filling member 16 is secured a fiatspring 22 the free end of which extends through the slot 15 and bearsupon the outer face of the end of the shank. 17 thereby normallyretaining said shank in a position at a slight angle to the body portion10. with the outer face of said shank contacting with the inner face ofthe filling member--16 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

During the adjustment of the movable jaw; 18 one face of the adjustingnut 19 is adapted to bear upon the inner face of the projection 12 at apoint adjacent to the body portion 10 while the opposite face of saidnut bears against the inner face of the projection 13 near its outerend. When this jaw has been properly adjusted and has been placed upon apipe or other article, any further adjustment of the nut 19 will causethe shank 17 of the jaw 18 to be moved against the tension of the spring22 into a position more nearly parallel with the body portion 10, theinner face of the nut 19 then bearing against the face of the projection12 on all sides of the shank 17 It is obvious that most of theadjustment of the jaw 18 is performed while its shank is in the angularposition described and that owing to the fact that the nut is onlycontacting at two points with the projections 12 and 13 a very easymovement of said jaw is insured from the fact that the frictionalcontact is reduced to a minimum.

The bottom of the slot 14: is curved inwardly toward the fixed aw 11 asindicated at 23 in Fig. 1, thereby providing means whereby the movablejaw 18 may be rocked relative to the body portion 10 to secure a firmergrip upon the pipe 24.

Itis obvious that when the wrench is in use the handle or body portion10 is moved in the direction of the arrow a on Fig. 1, and this movementof the body portion relative to the movable jaw 18 causes the spacebetween the fixed and movable jaws to be decreased and the teeth of saidjaws to be forced into the surface of the pipe or other article and afirm grip thereon to be se-' cured. As soon as pressure upon the handle10 is removed, the action of the spring 22 upon the movable jaw 18 willcause the jaws to be released from the pipe 24: so that the wrench maybe moved into a new position upon the pipe preparatory to a repetitionof the gripping action thereon. The width of the nut 19 is less than thespace between the projections 12 and 13 in order to permit the rockingmovement of the jaw 18, said rocking movement being limited by thecontact of the outer end of the nut with the inner face of theprojection 13.

The construction shown and described herein forms a very effectivewrench of great simplicity, while, by making the projections 12 and 13integral with the body portion a very'strong device is secured that maybe subjected to great strains, it being possibleto construct the entirebody portion of steel forging thereby dispensing with castings and allpivotal connections which tend to weaken the wrenches now in generaluse.

It is believed that the operation and many advantages of the inventionwill be fully understood from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a device of the class described, the combination of a body portionhaving an integral fixed jaw and two lateral projections slotted so asto form a curved surface at the bottom of the slots, a movable jawhaving a threaded shank passing through said slots, an adjusting nut onthe shank loosely engaged by said projections, a filling member to closethe slot in the projection nearer the jaws and form a passage in whichsaid shank is free to move toward and from said curved bottom, and aspring mounted on said member and constructed so that its free end willbe positioned in the slot of the projection farther from the jaws andbear on the outer face of said threaded shank.

Signed by me at 4 Post Office Sq., Boston, Mass, this 18th day ofJanuary, 1913.

HARRY G. EARLE. Witnesses:

WALTER E. LOMBARD, NATHAN C. LOMBARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C.

